Western caribbean 7 nights on Legend Aug28 of 2011

[PATRIOTSRULE]

Looking for any info that will help out in making sure this cruise is great. We have two kids (ages 9 and 11) that will be with us. Is it wise to book our own excursions thru the internet to save money? We are nonsmokers and were wondering if the cabins(we are staying in room7301 9b) if they smell like smoke? Any info on what not to miss or to stay away from would be great. Also wondering about getting to ship from airport. Again is it wise to just take a taxi or book the charter thru the Carnival? Thanks!

[DB2VA]

Take a cab from airport to port. Carnival transfer is pp and could be more expensive. Also the bus will wait for several flights. The excursions you book yourself are less expensive and if it's something close to port, it should be fine. But if your excursion takes you far away...other side of the island, I would book through Carnival. If anything happens..jeep breaks down, etc. Carnival holds the ship only for its own excursions.

Have a great cruise.

[Irishlinny]

Welcome to CC! There is a wealth of info on this site...go to the Ports of Call section of the board to find all kinds of suggestions for things to do and you should be able to find the type of things that interest your family. And yes, I highly recommend doing independent excursions, as long as you find that people speak highly of them. Saves alot of money and they tend to be less crowded. Some of my favorites have been:

Grand Cayman: Stingray City...you go by boat to a sandbar and get in the water with them in their natural environment. Excellent experience! We used Moby Dick and they were great.

Belize: We like to take a snorkel excursion combined with a beach break. Bannister Island is a great beach. There is also cavetubing, ziplining and ruins (we haven't done any of those).

There are not alot of good beaches in Belize and the port area is not so great, so definitely do an excursion there.

Cozumel: Tons of great beaches here. The ones that come to mind are Paradise Beach and Mr Sanchos...they would be great for the kids as they have the big inflatable toys out in the water. Restaurant/bars at each. I haven't been to Mr Sanchos, but I know Paradise is very nice. We went to Nachi Cocom, but it is geared more for adults.

Roatan: This is our favorite place, hands down! I highly recommend Victor Bodden's tour...they do an excellent job. You can hire a driver for the day and he will take you anywhere you want to go. Look at boddentours dot com for ideas of what you can do. We enjoy going to Victor's home where he has a sanctuary for a number of monkeys, parrots and other animals. You can hold and interact with many of them...lots of fun. He also has a zipline (we didn't do that). I would head to the West Bay beaches for the rest of the day...they are gorgeous and you can snorkel over there. It's a bunch of connected beaches which go by names of Tabayana, Fosters, Bananarama...they have a number of restaurant/bars there. The day with Victor's guide will probably cost the 4 of you $100, but well worth it to get to see the island. If you need to save money, you can walk to Mahogany Bay beach from the ship, but you will miss seeing the gorgeous island and the views from the top of the mountain (and the beach was constructed by the cruiseline, so definitely not anywhere near as nice as West Bay).

Get the cab from the airport. It's $25 and you won't have to wait for the shuttle to fill up.

I think most people on here agree that the cabins don't smell like smoke. I smoke, but not in the cabin. Apparently whatever Carnival uses, it works!

I would be happy to answer any questions you have, if I can. We just sailed the Legend for the 3rd time...you have picked a great ship and itinerary!:)

[Eeyoregon]

It's sort of long (I tend to ramble) but here is the link to my Legend review. We sailed October 24-31.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1309030

 

I didn't have my kids with me on this cruise but I was always thinking about what they would have enjoyed while I was in each port. Feel free to ask me questions.

 

The ports were great and the ship was awesome!

 

Gina